In Different Worlds
by kaya's window
Summary: Over night, Ed and Ren switch places. How would they have managed in each other’s worlds? Would they be better off or worse? [Shaman King x Full Metal Alchemist crossover]
1. chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King or Full Metal Alchemist

Notice: You will need to have full knowledge of the all characters and concepts of both Shaman King and Full Metal Alchemist to understand this story. Oh, and SPOILERS SPOILERS EVERYWHERE! Make sure you have watched up to episode…I guess 62 of Shaman King and up to episode 45 of Full Metal Alchemist before reading this.

Teaser: Over night, Ed and Ren switch places. How would they have managed in each other's worlds? Would they be better off or worse? Shaman King x Full Metal Alchemist crossover

Setting: In the Shaman King manga, part of the X-laws sacrificed themselves to find Hao's oversoul medium while in a match within the tournament, whereas the anime had them encounter Hao in the forest of the Great Spirit. I'll be using the manga's version. This fic takes place right after that match in the Shaman King world.

In Full Metal Alchemist, this takes place right after Ed and Al's encounter with Scar in Riore and they return to Rizenpool because Ed needed to "get something". Roy and his gang chased after them but did it to prevent them from getting caught by the fuhrer's soldiers. I'm going to change something here so that Roy left instead of staying to help ward soldiers away for Ed and Al. And Armstrong's group had to return to catch Ed under the fuhrer's orders.

* * *

In Different Worlds

In the room of the three teen shamans, two of them can be seen bouncing about the lit room in the middle of the night. They jumped about enthusiastically in their little game despite the noise they were sending into the quiet sleeping town. Horohoro, though he may not seem to like Chocolove's playful frolicking, holds a playful side in himself and occasionally, that playful side would surface and he would begin joining Chocolove in his games like right now.

"Stop it you two!" Ren with his hands on hips shouted at the two. He doesn't repeat himself and walked over to the table, putting out the candle—the room's only source of light. Having no light, the two settled down. Without anything to do anymore, they felt around searching for their beds so they can go to sleep.

"Goodnight, Ren," one of them called.

Lying curled up on his side of the wall, Ren grumbled, "Yeah, whatever."

"Goodnight, Ren," the other chirped in. Ren gave no response, but it didn't really matter because Chocolove began talking again, "Hey, I bet ya I can say that 10 times as fast."

Just as Ren feared, their games weren't over. The disgruntled teen knew it wasn't so easy to calm these two 'children' down. "Oh yeah, then go ahead," came Horohoro's voice. But they weren't given a chance to continue their game.

"Shut up, just shut up!"

The entire room morphed into a pleasant silence. It wasn't the command nor the tone of voice that kept Horohoro and Chocolove's mouths shut, though. It was the crisp 'shing' of Ren's blade that stopped them. The Kwan Dao reflected sharply in the moonlight, testing the silence in the room. Ren finally lowered it again then commanded, "Now go to sleep."

* * *

In a whole different world, in a small town, Al happily called to his older brother, "Goodnight, niisan." Stopping while in the middle of climbing onto his bed, Ed turned around giving his brother a grin, "Yeah, goodnight, Al." He laid down then nested himself within the blankets. He stared at the ceiling as he once again thought of how his brother, who can no longer sleep, was coping with the nights. His thoughts wandered, but soon the eyelids were involuntarily closing over golden eyes. Edward Elric fell asleep.

* * *

"Um…um…excuse me…"

Ren woke up to the unfamiliar voice of a 12 year old boy. He became startled then instinctively reached for the folded spear within his clothes. Now fully awake, Ren found he wasn't most surprised at his new surroundings but at the giant metal armor hovering before him.

"Who are you?" Ren rethought his question as he took in more of his surroundings, "…where am I?"

Al let out a gasp in surprise, "You sound just like niisan."

"Your niisan?" Ren turned his eyes back on the giant armor before him, eyeing Al suspiciously.

Seeing Ren's firm hold on the weapon, now unfolded into a long spear, Al was careful to not make any large movement. "Yes, my niisan. He was sleeping right here in where you are sitting." Al used a finger to point at the nest of blankets tangled about Ren's waist. Golden eyes followed and for the first time Ren realized he was no longer sleeping in the dirty straw mats but on a very soft and comfortable bed.

"I'm sure I've been watching niisan go to bed and stay there for the rest of the night. It wasn't until this morning that I found that niisan's body changed into yours."

It was hard to grasp, too hard to grasp, however Ren wasn't given any chance to think.

"Ed, Al!" came a shrill cry from the other side of the wooden door. Within seconds, the door came tearing down. Four soldiers clad in blue poured into the room. "I tried to stop them. I'm so sorry…" A blond girl with long hair was by the door frame calling in a mournful tone. The soldiers surrounded Al and Ren with their guns pointed at the two.

"Edward Elric, you are under arrest for the conspiracy you committed in Riore," One of them announced harshly. Their eyes, however, were trained on none other than Ren.

"Huh?" Winly suddenly burst out, "But that isn't Ed!"

One of the men eyed the girl, gun still pointed at Ren. "Don't lie to me girl, Edward Elric has golden colored eyes."

"The giant armor little brother is with him too. There's no doubt about it," another one of them called. With everything cleared up, the soldiers were now serious about arresting Ren.

Ren, though no matter how little he understood of what's going on knew that he was in some sort of trouble. Secretly, he beckoned Bason into his left hand and clenched carefully onto his weapon with his right.

"What should we do...!" Al hardly had the chance to finish his question when all of a sudden, the boy beside him launched out of the bed. Throwing the white bed sheet into the soldiers, Ren startled two of them, as he dealt with the remaining two by the other side of the room. The men recovered fast, slapping down the cloth and aiming for their target again, however, their guns were disabled as Ren put a quick slash through the barrels of their guns. They let out a cry and looked up and saw that their comrades' guns were in the same condition. All four backed away from the short boy standing in the middle of the room.

"Wow…" Winly commended in awe at the metal guns now cut cleanly into an angle. She called out in surprise when she saw the four soldiers making a move towards the window. "Ah, they're trying to escape!"

Ren didn't know the significance of the soldiers' escape, but decided to stop them anyway, just in case, however he was beat to the task. "Oh no you don't!" Al called out as he hurriedly finished the last details of his alchemic array. The giant blue armor placed two hands over the circle and a white light was brought forth, shooting around the soldiers and finally closing them in. Ren watched in awe as the light disappeared and a big wooden box was formed where the soldiers once stood. Muffled cries came from within the walls as the soldiers banged at their new cage.

The girl walked up to the armor casually as if what just happened was nothing out of the ordinary. "Good job, Al! Now they can't go inform the rest of the military." She turned to Ren uncertainly then said, "Uh…thank you very much."

"It wasn't anything," Ren told her loosely. Dealing with the soldiers was an easy job. The fact that he was attacked for no reason did bother him though, but right now, more importantly… Golden colored eyes turned to Al, "Now kid, start by explaining what you just did…and more importantly," His eyes narrowed. "..how you got your soul attached to that armor."

* * *

"AHHHHHHH!" One voice boomed through the morning lit room. Soon, another voice joined the first, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Huh?" Ed rolled his head towards the voices to face two very unfamiliar persons staring at him with their mouths wide open. Ed got up and did the thing most usual to him in situations like these. He screamed at the top of his lungs so that a trio of sustained crying echoed throughout the entire street.

"Who are you!" Horohoro pointed a finger straight at Ed.

"I should be asking the same question!" Ed copied Horohoro, beginning a staring match with each other.

"…hey, this guy sounds just like Ren…and he's got the same colored eyes too…" Chocolove commented from the side.

"Why should I need to explain?" Horohoro shouted back, "Ren was sleeping right here last night and then this morning you are here instead!" The blue haired teen explained heatedly pointing his finger around from the corner Ren and Ed slept in to golden haired boy standing before him.

"Oh, is that so," Ed composed himself as if all problems have just been resolved. "Huh?" finger still in midair, Horohoro's confused eyes followed as Ed casually ambled towards another part of the room. His arms were folded and his eyebrows were knotted as if deep in concentration. He stopped then looked confidently at Horohoro, "You said I switched places with your friend, right?" Horohoro nodded. Golden eyes now turned towards Chocolove, "and you said I sound and look similar to him?" Chocolove nodded. Satisfied with the answers, Ed spread his arms as if finishing a deduction. "Then it's clear. Your friend must be the parallel version of myself in a different world and he and I must have switched places."

The two roommates still gave Ed that confused look. Ed sighed and tried again, "Your friend must have taken my place in my world and I have taken his."

As if coming out of a stupor, Horohoro slowly acknowledged what Ed said. "…but how is that possible…?" he uttered.

"You don't remember your friend leaving after he went to sleep over there, right?" Ed asked, urging Horohoro to agree with him. "Right…" Horohoro answered after contemplating for a while. "And I don't remember leaving my place in my bed after going to sleep so that's the best explanation," Ed finished.

"But…" Horohoro uttered, still not satisfied with the explanation, but nothing more can come out because he couldn't find a better explanation either. He sighed in acceptance and Ed nodded approvingly.

"You seem to be taking this quite well. This sort of stuff must happen very often in your world," Chocolove finally piped in. Ed looked surprised for a moment then smiled at Chocolove, "No it doesn't, but anything is possible, don't you think?"

Chocolove shook his head then commented at the way Ed thought, "You must have seen lots of weird stuff happening." Ed had been expecting that. His grin widened and he answered.

"You bet."

* * *

"..h...how did you know I was just a kid?" Al gasped then asked more urgently, "How did you know my soul was fixed to this armor!"

Ren stared unbelievingly at the boy, with his transparent soul attached to the blue armor. It looked like an oversoul, but he detected no signs of furyoku. He was interested, yes, very interested.

"It's simple," Ren explained, realizing the two staring disbelievingly at him may not see spirits after all. "I can see your soul, clearly stuck to that armor." Ren pointed at Al.

"My soul…?" Al placed his palms across the spot where his heart is supposed to be. He looked up then asked again, "You can see my soul?"

"Yes," Ren nodded. Seeing the other was still not believing his words, Ren gave out more details. "I can see the soul of a human boy about the age of 12 stuck to that piece of armor."

Al jumped and exclaimed happily, "You can see me! You can really see me!"

"Yes," Ren answered, starting to become annoyed. "Now who are you anyway?"

The armor flustered, giving out a light 'Oh' and a small bow, "I'm Alphonse Elric, but you can call me Al. Pleased to meet you."

"Uh," Ren grunted dismissedly at the long introduction, "and would you mind explaining how I got here?" Ren eyed the unfamiliar walls of the bedroom.

Winly watched on quietly as Al began to explain. "Um..I watched my niisan go to bed last night, but when I came to wake him up this morning, I find you instead. And I'm pretty sure he didn't move from the room because I have been watching him all night." Al added at the end.

Ren contemplated for a while and sighed. "Then I can't think of a better explanation except this niisan of yours and I must have switched places over night."

"Eeh!" Both Winly and Al sounded in protest. "Your brother's voice sounds like mine, right?" Ren looked at the two. "Now that you mention it, your eyes look pretty similar too." Winly stuck a finger to her chin as she examined Ren closer. Ren made no comment at the new find, but goes on with his rationalization, "And I don't remember going anywhere over night so that's the only explanation."

"Hmm.." the girl and the boy hummed, reluctantly accepting the explanation. Al gasped again, "What if niisan never comes back?" he asked worriedly. "Well, I definitely hope not!" Ren shot back and added, half muttering, "It's not like I want to be here." He crossed his arms in a deep frown. Realizing Ren was in a situation he didn't want to be in as well, Al raised and shook his palms. "Oh I'm sorry…uh…uh… …what is your name…?"

"It's Tao Ren."

"Ren-oniisan," Al repeated. Ren ignored the friendly way Al chose to say his name, but his frown did deepen another shade. "I'm Winly," the girl waved. "Uh," Ren grunted. Now that the introductions were over, he faced Al once again. "Now, will you start explaining to me what that white light was," Ren asked, never having forgotten the conspicuous brown box by the wall and not to mention the pounding of fists coming from within. He eyed it. Al moved back to give Ren a better view.

"This is alchemy."

"Alchemy?"

"Hmm…" Al paused as he tried to explain, "I guess you can call it a form of sorcery…"

"Sorcery…as in magic?" Ren commented hurriedly, eyes wide and still interested at every bit of new information he was getting.

"Yes," Al answered as he began to kneel at the floor. With a piece of chalk, he began drawing a weird design onto the floor board. "By drawing an alchemic array," he explained then he placed a loose piece of floorboard on top of the design when he was done. "And using something as an equivalent trade." Al placed his hands onto the floor and once again the white light flashed in a frenzy as Ren watched in awe. The light cleared and the piece of wood was now replaced by a small toy horse of equal size. Al picked it up and rose from the floor, then he handed it over for Ren to see. "You can transform it into something of an equal matter."

Ren examined the transmutation in silence, not really knowing what to say. Just at that moment, a loud baritone boomed from outside. "Edward Elric, I know you're in there!"

"Ugh, we're surrounded!" Winly said while she peered out the window.

"I guess we have no choice but to go out," Al told Winly, who nodded in reply. The three marched out of the house just in time to hear General Armstrong say, "I'm sorry to do this, Elric brothers, but I received orders from the fuhrer to put you under arrest…?" The burly general looked in question after the three sole occupants of the house had emptied out.

"Where's Edward-kun?" He eyed the soldier who had followed the three out. The soldier caught on and reported, "Sir, these were the only occupants of the house!"

"Hmm…" Armstrong grumbled troublesomely when none of the children decided to explain. He did a double take when he saw Ren. Placing a hand to his chin and stooping over to stare at the small boy, he said, "I've never seen you before…but your eyes, they're golden just like Edward-kun's…" He rose back to his towering height as he came to a decision, "Seeing how Edward-kun can easily change his appearance, I'll have to put you under arrest." A gloved palm ascended, signaling for the soldiers to attack.

"Not if I defeat you first!" Ren cried as he rushed towards the row of soldiers. "Ahhh!" Winly and Al screamed at the boy who ran unguarded into a group of armed soldiers. The soldiers opened fire but the bullets were dodged. Winly and Al's shock melted into marvel as their eyes followed the flexible small boy twisting by all the bullets. Ren came down with the Kwan Dao slashing away the soldiers' weapons. Now at close range, the boy had a greater advantage over the soldiers. Because the target was mixed among them, the soldiers couldn't open fire and stood quite vulnerably to Ren's attacks. With his moves like lightning, Ren finished the entire dispatch in no time.

"I am still here," Armstrong addressed the short boy who stood amidst the pile of fallen soldiers. He gave Ren no time to react and rushed at Ren from behind. Ren however, made a quick twist and blocked the general's fist with the rod of his spear. The boy smirked, "I'm not defeated so easily."

The burly man made a sound in amazement. The two remained fixed in that position no matter how hard Armstrong pushed at the seemingly-weaker boy. They finally jumped away from each other. The general looked ponderous for a moment then he said, "Looks like I have no choice but to show you my true strength!" He removed his uniform to bare impossible tight muscles, but the act hardly fazed Ren as the boy had began launching towards his opponent again.

Armstrong swung an arm back and brought it around just in time to connect with the side of Ren's blade. There was the eerie white light again that Ren had never seen before. Ren looked up to see what was done to the tip of his spear. He flinched in surprise as the blade was now replaced with the figure of a small monument that looked unmistakably to be the other man. He wasn't as surprised as the first time he witnessed alchemy so he calmly let his Kwan Dao drop from his hands.

"Oh no, what should we do? Ren-oniisan can't use alchemy!" Al began to fret, making a start to find a way to help Ren, however, he was stopped short.

"Who said I can't?" retorted the purple haired boy. Turning his face up to reveal a confident smirk, Ren raised a palm into the air. "Hyoi Gattai!" he called as he slowly brought the palm down to his chest. All the works of the Spirit Control were invisible to the spectators' eyes, but Al could tell whatever Ren was doing exerted a lot of force.

"heh," Ren grinned as he knelt to the ground and drew an array with the speed of a seasoned alchemist. He slammed both hands down and before Armstrong can react his body was sucked into the dirt. The transmutation finished when only his head remained planted on the surface of the ground. The man protested and moved his head around as he struggled in his underground prison, but the boy ignored him and walked away.

Al ran up to Ren followed by Winly, "Wow, I thought you couldn't use alchemy!"

"I can't," came Ren's curt answer. He knew the confused looks Al and Winly were giving him so he quickly finished his sentence with a smirk. "but there's a spirit nearby who can."

* * *

Okay, Ren sure had a lot of action. Next chapter, it's Ed's turn to shine. How will the rest of the shaman gang react? And what's Ed gonna do about the situation the shamans are in? Please read the next chapter to find out : ) 


	2. chapter 2

In Different Worlds 

"So Ren went to your world and you came to ours?" Yoh said. The leader of team Funbari Onsen was sitting at a round table with a group of his friends. They had just finished breakfast and were having a break when Horohoro and Chocolove came up to them with an unfamiliar blond boy. Out of breath, the remaining half of team The Ren was all flustered as if they had been looking all around for Yoh. Not to mention, it looked like the two had been dragging Ed all around with them. When they found Yoh, they practically threw the blond boy at his face and kept pointing at Ed, with mouths hanging but nothing coming out.

Yoh looked up at Ed as he confirmed what the other boy said. Because Horohoro and Chocolove kept stuttering, unable to believe nor explain the situation correctly, Ed ended up doing most of the talking. And he did so in such a calm manner in contrast to the other two who kept waving their hands in frenzy in the background. Ed nodded at Yoh, who in turn simply said, "Oh, I see."

"YOH!" The blue haired boy shouted in such a loud voice that it stirred some of the customers of the restaurant. People turned around with angry stares, but Horohoro didn't care. Instead he screeched, "How can you be so calm!"

"Ren is your friend isn't he? Or do you really not care what happens to him!" he stomped on the ground.

Yoh's brows twisted into a tight knot on his forehead as he frowned at what Horohoro just said, "How can you say that? I really care about Ren," he finished. Then he turned his head up to look at the sky, arms going up to cradle his head. As if staring off into another world, he said, "I'm sure wherever Ren is, he's doing just fine."

Catching his friend's unsatisfied look from the corner of his eye, Yoh quickly turned to the woman sitting at a table behind him, "Jun thinks so too, right?" The woman named Jun nodded politely, "Yes, I'm sure Ren can take care of himself." She smiled. Seeing that even Ren's older sister was having no problem, Horohoro had no choice but to leave it at that. He let out a grumble and Chocolove simply gave a shrug.

Yoh let out one of his usual 'he he's. Then he turned to Ed again. "Ed, why don't you have some breakfast?" The relaxed boy patted good-naturedly at the empty seat beside him. Ed's lips curved up into an awkward smile at the simple way Yoh handled things. "You're really an easy going guy, aren't you?" Ed commented as he took the seat. Yoh's grin grew wider at the remark.

All of a sudden, Yoh's head perked up as if he remembered something. "Ah," he lifted a finger at Ed, who could only look on curiously, as Yoh searched around for something behind him. He came around and flashed a bottle of milk at Ed happily, "Here Ed, I've been saving this for Ren, but you can have it! It came with my breakfast special but I was too full to drink it."

A few seconds passed, and Yoh wondered why Ed still hasn't taken the bottle from his hand. He opened is eyes to look at Ed, who sat incredibly still and made no move to take the bottle he was staring intensely at. "Uh…" Yoh began to frown as he realized, "You don't really like milk…do you?"

"..n..not really…" Ed answered uncertainly, but Yoh can see the boy visibly shaking with lots of restraint. Unfortunately for Ed, Yoh wasn't the only one who spotted this. Horohoro jumped out of his seat, "No way!" he pointed a finger at Ed.

"The other world parallel of Ren, who won't feel satisfied without three glasses of milk a day, does not drink milk!" The blue haired teen uttered it all out in one quick sentence.

"HEY!" the blond slammed his arms on the table and shot up from his seat, "Who are you calling a short bean that won't grow because he doesn't drink his milk!" he stringed out the words at speed that can match Horohoro's. Ed seethed at the boy across the table.

Everyone at the table stared awestruck at the two. Then Chocolove waved a hand at Ed motioning for him to calm down, "Uh...Ed, what are you talking about? Why would we call you short? We're all pretty much the same height… If you need to call someone short then…" the curly haired boy then began turning to Manta in an as innocent way as possible. "HEY!" Now it was Manta's turn to be ticked off as he caught on to what Chocolove was trying to do.

Ed blinked as he calmed down. He looked at all the people who were supposedly around his age and indeed, their heights were all pretty similar to his. He sighed amusedly to himself, 'Hmm, maybe I can get used to this after all.'

* * *

"What did you mean…by spirt?" Winly slowly asked. Ren let out a sigh. It looked like he will have to start explaining from the beginning. He began, "I'm a shaman. Shamans are people who can see and communicate with spirits. We are also capable of utilizing them," He stared up at the two to make sure they follow before he continued. 

"What I just did is called Spirit Control. By fusing the soul of another person within me, I can allow the soul to use my body as a medium to interact with this world."

"Wait, you mean you can let a spirit take over your body?" Winly said incredulously after awhile. Ren nodded. Al let out a sound in awe then said, "So that's why you can see my soul…" Then suddenly, Al thought of something. He turned to Ren again, "I wonder whose soul was it that you fused with?"

"I don't know," Ren shrugged, "this guy's been refusing to tell me his name." He pointed with a thumb at the open space behind him. Winly and Al's eyes followed curiously to the spot but couldn't see anything no matter how hard they tried. They both sighed after spending so much time squinting at the same spot. Al's eyes, however, never left the spot as he wondered ponderously.

What he asked was more than just a carefree question after all. It's not common to encounter such a high level alchemist that can finish a complex array at the speed Ren did, whether living or dead. There weren't much people in this world that can complete such a feat. Of course this small handful included his genius alchemist older brother, but then he was no longer in this world right now.

"Oh, what is this mess?"

An old tiny lady came up the path that connected to Winly's house. As she did so, she looked around discontentedly at the bodies of soldiers scattered all about the ground. "Grandma!" Winly ran over to Pinako. Pinako looked up sternly at her granddaughter, waiting for an answer, but her attention quickly shifted as her sharp eyes caught the unfamiliar-looking boy standing beside Al.

"Oh, that's Ren," Winly caught on as she followed Pinako's eyes to Ren, "He's…uh…gonna be staying with us for awhile…it's a long story…" she said as she scratched her head. Pinako nodded, as she was not the type to pry in other people's matters nor was she interested in them. Her eyes scanned the area then she asked, "Where's Ed?" This time Al chirped in, "Um…niisan and Ren-oniisan switched places. That's why niisan is in Ren-oniisan's world and Ren-oniisan is here in our world," the armor flinged his arms about as he tried to explain with much effort. The grandma looked at Ren who just stared back at the old lady. She turned away and started for her house, signaling acceptance of their story.

Afterwards, Al and Winly proceeded to tie the soldiers up. Winly brought pieces of scrap metal from the house and Al used alchemy to bind the unconscious soldiers with the metal. When the last of the men were dealt with, the two clapped their hands. Ren watched wordlessly from the side. Crossing his arms he finally said to the two, "Not that I really care, but why is this brother of yours being chased by the military?"

The metal armor perked its head up, "Niisan?" he asked in a questioning tone, then suddenly his whole demeanor changed. "He was framed!" Flames sprouted behind the little brother. "Niisan didn't do anything wrong, but they're saying he did! I was there! I swear!" He was bent forward, poking his head towards Ren, and ready to prove his brother's innocence through his words, however Ren slapped a hand on its shoulder. He gave the armor a light tap and said, "Fine, I got you."

The purple haired boy then turned and slowly strolled towards the front door. "Uh…where are you going?" Winly asked. Ren gave her a dull look. He knew he was being questioned on what he intended to do about his being transported away from his own world. "It's not like there's anything I can do," he let out then headed for the house again, "I might as well just stay here." Al and Winly blinked amusedly at the retreating figure, who was acting quite calm for a person in such a situation as this. Al couldn't help but wonder how his brother was managing.

* * *

In the other world, Ed was doing quite well. In a few minutes and a good breakfast later, he's gotten to know a bunch of people and made some new friends. He's also learned about his new friends' spirit controlling ability and in return, he told them about alchemy. 

A china plate crashed to the floor. "Do it again! This one, this one!" Tan-colored hands hovered over the broken pieces and pointed at the plate that they had purposely dropped. Ed shrugged then clapped his hands and brought them to the ground beside the plate. A pale light flashed and after that, the original china plate was there, brand new as if it had never been broken. "Ooooo," all his spectators marveled in awe.

"Err…" Silva, in an apron, approached them worriedly. "I know that you can fix them and all, but I would appreciate it if you would stop breaking our dinnerware because they're really really expensive…" The man clasped his hands together anxiously. "Sorry about that," the group apologized and disappointed moans elicited from a few. Having nothing to do anymore, Ed sat back down.

Manta, who had his arms crossed the whole time, looked up with a frown. "I still don't believe it," the short boy let out a tired sigh from all the thinking he's been doing then turned to Ed.

"So you provide some materials,"

"Yeah," Ed nodded as Manta continued, "And you draw an alchemic circle… through that you can trade the materials for something of an equal matter?"

"Yes that's the law of equivalent trade," Ed nodded as he confirmed. Manta shook his head. "It just doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense, Manta?" Yoh turned worriedly to his friend. "He showed it to us several times already."

"I know!" Manta burst out. He let his arms slide down to support himself on the table, giving up, and finally voiced his true opinion. "…but it just sounds too simple…"

Ed stared at the guy wordlessly, not really knowing what to say. After all, it was a rule that he had known all his life. When someone comes up to you and starts questioning something that you've believed in for a long time, you really wouldn't know what to say. Fortunately for Ed, Yoh decided to cut in. "What…is that all?" the boy said while laughing casually, "Isn't it better that way, that it's simple? I always think it's the best when things are easy!" Yoh finished happily as he let out his trademark laugh. Manta dropped his head in defeat while listening to the long bout of laughter and Ed watched Yoh happily, smiling at the other boy's simplistic way of thinking.

After a while all the shamans began to stir from their seats. "Yoh-kun," Manta asked worriedly as Yoh got up. "Are you really going to go?" Yoh apologetically rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm sorry. You don't have to go if you don't want to." Manta lowered his head a little signaling he'd prefer that option. Yoh gave his friend an encouraging smile. Ed, who had no idea what they could be talking about, waited until he felt it was the right moment to ask, "Err…what can you be going to see that's bothering Manta so much…?"

Yoh turned towards him, lips forming a slight 'oh' as if he had completely forgotten the fact that Ed wasn't here until just this morning. Then suddenly, the lax face turned serious. "We're going to watch Hao's match."

"Who's Hao?" Ed asked half-knowing the guy was no good from the way Yoh had said the name.

"He's a lunatic…with too much power," Horohoro called from the other side, his face just as serious. He walked over to where Ed was standing then finished for him, "He keeps killing off his opponents. That's why Manta doesn't want to go." The blue haired shaman clenched his fists. Despondently, Manta turned his face away. Ed watched the sour expressions on his formerly cheery friends' faces as his own began to mimic theirs for he too shared their principle of not killing other people.

Yoh finally turned to Ed. "So, do you think you'll come with us?" Golden eyes met his. There was a glint in them that read he was up for any challenge. Ed nodded determinedly at the brunette. "Okay," Yoh turned to the rest, "then let's go." The group split up as Manta and some of the girls stayed behind. Ed waved sincerely at Manta who seemed a bit too sorrowful at his not being able to go. He was an older brother after all so he felt a bit inclined to cheer up others who were younger looking. Besides, watching the two-foot kid standing there with droopy eyes…anyone would want to.

The group made their way towards the stadium. Very quickly, the shamans were back to their cheery demeanor from the morning, but Ed could sense it was only temporary. They won't be okay, not until after the match, or that was what Ed thought. He'll have to see. While they walked through the streets, the alchemist took the time to take in more of the setting of this new world. The buildings were pretty much the same as some of the ones he had seen in his own world, except everywhere there was the conspicuous word 'Patch'.

They arrived and took the front row of the seats. The blond made a full circle about the stadium with his eyes. There were many seats left vacant. Only a few spectators scattered throughout the donut shaped seating area, but it was also this fact that made it possible for his group to be seated in the very front row of the stadium.

"The match is three against three," Yoh explained beside him, "there is no time limit. The team that completely runs out of furyoku first loses."

"Then that means there really was no reason for Hao to kill off his opponents." Ed added quickly.

"You got that right," Horohoro answered angrily beside the blond. A loud cheering was heard coming from the audience. The teens focused their eyes back onto the stage. On one side, a cloaked boy was coming out, leading two more people behind him and on the other side, there were three men doing the same. The crowd seemed mostly to be cheering for the team with the cloaked boy.

"That's Hao…" Horohoro hissed next to him, answering Ed's question of just who might that well-accepted young man may be.

The announcer waited for the two teams to take their places on the stage. Then he raised a hand towards Hao, "Today's match will be Hoshigumi….VERSUS….T-production(1) !" he finished with his hand on the other team after making a full half circle. The crowded roared except Yoh and his group didn't do the same. They silently waited for the dreaded match to begin. Ed couldn't help but begin feeling anxious as well.

The announcer gave out his flamboyant 'START!' and leapt away from the middle of the stage. The three men, the T-production, did some motions with their arms as if preparing something. Ed couldn't see what it was, but whatever it was they had brought about it elicited a slight consensus gasp from the audience. They ran towards the Hoshigumi after doing so. The crowd's roar elevated as they became closer and closer to their target.

It was just a slight movement; the person named Hao took one step forward. His cloak and hair flicked wildly for a moment. It was all invisible to the blond, but it was in that moment that the crowd became dead silent. A sickly feeling of fear loomed in the air as Ed watched everyone's eyes move up towards an invisible spot in the air. With growing anticipation, Ed uttered, "W…what is it?"

"It's his oversoul…the Spirit of Fire…" Horohoro squeezed out breathlessly. The murmur among the audience was beginning to grow into an excited roar again as he watched Horohoro's eyes flash to another part of the stage, following an invisible thing. The blond spun his head towards the spot just in time to see the unworldly spill of blood and the three bodies being thrown back.

"Ugh…" Ed watched Yoh turn away from the fight. The fight was over. The three men lay unmoving in a pool of red. Slowly, the bodies burned and disintegrated in a red fire that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Ed watched awestruck. The announcer was making his way back to the middle of the stage again. "What just happened?" Ed urgently turned to his friends again. They all looked miserable after witnessing something that they didn't want to see. Maybe Ed was better off not being able to see spirits after all.

"Hao's Spirit of Fire totally wiped out the three," Yoh uttered out through gritted teeth. At the same moment, Horohoro shot up from his seat. He hammered a fist onto the hand-rest. "Damn!" he shouted, "Isn't there anyway to stop him at all?"

"There's nothing we can do. His furyoku is too much and the medium for his oversoul is the very air itself. There's no way we can stop him," Chocolove called out to Horohoro immediately, afraid that his friend might actually consider approaching Hao in his rage. The blue haired shaman calmed down considerably, "I know…" he uttered in a dismal way.

"Wait," Ed interrupted the two. If he had heard correctly, Ed thought he had heard something crucial about this Hao. He turned to Chocolove. "You said that the medium for his oversoul is the air?" his eyes watched Chocolove inquisitively.

"Err…yeah, he uses the air to make his oversoul," Chocolove replied. "That's also how he makes his fire burn," he added after a slight pause.

"I see…" Ed grinned and said confidently which caused all the shamans to perk their heads up at him since this wasn't the reaction they had expected from the alchemist. "Then that's no problem at all," he said then ran towards the stage, climbed over the railing, and landed on the stage area where he proceeded to run towards Hao, all before Yoh and the others had any time to react.

"ED!" the group cried with terror at what their friend had just done. They raised shaking hands at him, called his name, and held trembling fingers to their teeth, but Ed had already reached Hao and had successfully caught the feared shaman's attention. Yoh gripped onto the railing and stared with wide eyes as his potential long time friend approached his psycho twin brother.

Ed took the last few steps towards Hao casually. He raised a palm at Hao. Looking down and with his other hand in his pocket, he mumbled his introduction as quickly as possible, "Hey I'm Edward Elric I'm new here just came to this world this morning and learned about you a few minutes ago." Hao stared curiously at the other boy, apparently not understanding a word he was saying, but nevertheless, he waited for him to finish. As soon as he was done, Ed stared up at him with narrowed eyes. "You know, you really shouldn't kill people for no reason." Golden eyes were trained disapprovingly on him.

Even though the face of the boy was one that he had never seen before, there was something very familiar about the boy before him that Hao couldn't pinpoint. It didn't matter though. Hao shifted, causing his cloak to make a small wave. He smirked at the boy. A mere human was trying to tell him to stop killing. Hao couldn't hold back his amusement anymore as the words 'so tiny' made its way through his mouth languidly dripping full of mocking humor. The words however, not really the tone of voice, had more affect on Ed than they should have as the blond stuck out a foot and stretched a ticked off face at Hao.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME! Am I so tiny that you need a magnifying glass to see!" his teeth made a crunching sound as Ed gritted them.

Hao frowned as he closed his eyes in mild frustration. The other took his comment literally and completely the wrong way. Nevertheless the boy was starting to get on his nerves. He decided to end this once and for all. "Spirit of Fire," the long haired one commanded. It was the same as before; there was a flick of hair and cape and in an instant, Ed felt himself being lifted high up in the air by an invisible hand. So far he didn't feel any pain.

He heard his friends calling frantically at him. They were hurrying over the railing and running towards him. Whether his plan worked or not, now was the time to find out. "If you want to defeat me, you'll need to use something better than air," Ed grinned as he clapped his hands and placed it on the invisible hand around him. Instantly, he was released and Ed balanced himself as he landed on the ground.

"W..what did you do…!" Hao stumbled backwards, completely stunned—it was a rare sight to see from the usually composed Hao. It was not just Hao, but all the people in the stadium seemed to gasp and fall silent in unison. Yoh and the others had stopped in their tracks and had their mouths open. They were dead quiet and seemed to be looking for something that was there before in this area of air that Ed had just performed alchemy on. It seemed his plan had worked. Ed grinned one of his eviler grins.

The blond triumphantly dusted his hands, "Simple, I recomposed the air you were using to make your oversoul," he said as he strolled closer and closer to Hao.

"Y..you recomposed the air…?"

"That's impossible!" Hao remained rooted to his spot. He had such a shocked look on his face like the 1000 and plus year old had never seen anything like this before ever in his life. His mouth opened to stutter a few 'I's' but nothing coherent ever came out. The forever arrogant fire shaman was at a lost. Ed, however, ignored his opponent's condition and came up to the cloaked boy till they were inches away and he pulled his arm back as he did so, "Well, it's time that you got off your high horse!" Ed shouted loud enough for the shocked Hao to hear and slammed his fist into the other's face into a perfect round-house.

Hao took the full force of the punch and went flying onto the dirt floor. His body instinctively picked itself up again but there was another degree of shock in his eyes as he held a shaking palm to his face, like the punch was also something he had never experienced before as well. Ed gave Hao no chance to recover and came running towards him again, ready for another punch. This time Hao managed to recover from the shock and turned to glare at the blond's incoming fist, but he was too slow to react and was sent flying again to the other side.

Hao got up boiling with anger. His cloak and hair rose in a frenzy and there was a dangerous flare in his eyes. "SPIRIT OF FIRE!" he hollered, bringing forth something invisible again that was causing his friends behind Ed to call out at him in panic once again. This time the alchemist just transmutated the whole block of air that was between him and Hao. Watching the raging shaman's eyes scan the empty air before him in that way, Ed could pretty much approximate where this invisible force was located. And it worked like a charm.

The audience pulled back and gasped in deep surprise so Ed ran for the shocked shaman again. Seeing his attacker approach him, Hao turned and began to run. He seemed to be doing so to dodge the alchemist's attacks but one could tell there was a slight bit of fear for the blond in his movements. The people of the stadium watched in utter shock, the observers, the Patch, Hao's henchmen, and Ed's friends included. Yoh was the first to recover. He slowly gave one of his laughs, but didn't say anything after it signaling he too wasn't fully recovered from astonishment.

They got used to it after a while, but still watched in utter amazement. It was fun to see the short blond chasing down their long time feared enemy and landing a few punches occasionally. By now, anyone could tell Ed was the stronger fighter, but not just that, Yoh thought to himself—there was also something about the blond's right arm that made his punches send Hao flying farther than normal. Yoh shrugged at that and continued to enjoy this little onslaught before him in a grin.

* * *

They were back in the bedroom again. Al sat by the window occasionally sending glances at the purple haired shaman and Ren was on the bed surrounded by books and deeply immersed in one at the moment. They were books on alchemy. Ren had taken them from the bookcase as soon as Al told him what they were. The sunlit room was a peaceful quiet except for the sound of pages turning and the occasional question popping from the timid armor. So far, Al had learned quite a lot about this 'older brother', about his world, his power, his friends, and his hobbies. 

"Um..ano…" the 12 year old began again. Ren nodded again, eyes never leaving the book. Al took the signal to ask his question, "Do you also have a younger brother?"

"No, I have one older sister," the studious boy replied, voice muffled somewhat by the hand that was supporting his cheek. He suddenly looked up at the blue armor, causing Al jump a bit. Catlike eyes stared straight at him, scrutinizing his very soul. Al let out a small 'eep' in surprise. Finally Ren said, "Let me guess, the way your soul is attached to that armor is also another form of alchemy."

Al blinked. As the question sunk in he turned his eyes away and looked down as if in shame. "Yes…" he answered slowly, "…but it is more of a mistake in alchemy…" He fell silent. After a while he heard Ren sigh with a conclusive 'I knew it.' The armor perked its head up upon hearing that. "What do you mean, you knew it…?" he asked as lightly as he could.

Ren closed his eyes and did a stretch from his book-reading. He then placed an arm on his lap and another on the stack of books as he said, "I knew there were bound to be mistakes in alchemy."

"What…do you mean…?" Al asked slowly. He knew what Ren meant, but had really wanted to ask why Ren thought that way. He stuttered.

Ren let out an approving 'hmph', then continued, "Alchemy, it just sounds too simple." Al was silent, not really knowing what to say.

"If anybody can have whatever they want by simply drawing an alchemic circle, then there isn't any need for hard work anymore."

Al listened. He was surprised by the other's philosophy, but then again, Al was not so ready to accept thinking against something that he has believed in for so long. "But.." he started, "…but it was our mistake that we turned out this way." Al made a sound, wanting to add more but Ren cut him off.

"Don't," the precocious shaman looked down for a moment as if reflecting on his own experiences, then he looked straight at Al again, "Don't blame yourselves too much. It's not your fault." He paused seeing the boy wanting to protest, then added, "It's this world of yours that's messed up." Al fell silent. He wasn't sure if the words were really directed to him, because it felt as if Ren-oniisan had been saying it more to himself. However, he had no idea how much he had wanted to hear this.

'It's not your fault'

The words echoed in his head. Even though his heart couldn't accept them completely as the truth, it left an easing sort of comfort within him. Al looked up and caught Ren giving him one of his rare smiles, though it wasn't long lasting as he turned his head down to read the thick book again. Al was still, slightly embarrassed, but soon the mood fell back to its former serene pace.

"Um…ano…"

Ren nodded. Al chirped in, "Ren-oniisan, do you need any help reading those alchemy books?" The boy offered after realizing Ren was new to the study and that there may be terms that the other has never encountered before.

"It's alright. There's no need," Ren answered loosely as a hand rose up to point over at something behind him. He continued, "This guy's been helping me all along." Al was speechless. He stared at that invisible spot of air. Once again he was left to wonder just who might that spirit be.

Winly appeared by the entrance and knocked politely on the open door. "Hey Ren, is there anything you want to drink?" she asked, head extended through the doorway. She was in her work clothes, apparently having been working in her shop again. She turned awkwardly to Al, both knowing it would be meaningless for her to be asking him the same question. Ren looked up from his book, then took a moment to consider before saying, "Yeah, can you get me some milk?"

"M..milk!"

It was Al who shouted out in shock. He shot upright with a very surprised expression on his face. Ren watched curiously from this to the mystified look Winly was giving him. He started to move forward in panic not understanding what was going on. "What!" he slammed his hands down on the bed, "Is there something wrong with milk?"

"N..no…" Winly finally answered, "It's just Ed really hates milk." She shook her head reminding herself this was a different person she was talking to, though his eyes and voice are exactly the same as Ed's. Ren too began shaking his head. For a second, he thought he had landed in a world where milk was reviled and prohibited. He let out a sigh in relief then retorted.

"What is this brother of yours? If he doesn't drink milk he'll just end up being a short bean forever."

* * *

On the other side, Ed sneezed. He rubbed his nose wondering where that may have came from. "Yo, are you all right buddy?" Chocolove, who had an arm slapped around his shoulders, asked as he waved a glass of orange juice in his other hand. "Yeah, I'm fine," Ed shook his head and raised his glass again. He waved it joyously as he followed the merry tune of the room. The whole gang was celebrating in a karaoke bar. 

Just a while ago, after punching Hao for the tenth-some time, Ed finally decided to let the defenseless beat up shaman go. His henchmen ran to Hao and hardly dared to lay a finger on Ed as he walked away to his loudly cheering friends. Afterwards, the shamans decided to celebrate and bought orange juice and snacks from the store. Right now they were having a blast as they listened to Ryu sing through the microphone.

Horohoro came up to Ed with a wide grin with Yoh close behind. A while ago the two had disappeared off to somewhere, apparently plotting whatever it was that they're about to tell Ed. "Hey Ed, can you do us a favor?"

"Yeah?" Ed got up curiously. The two boys bent over and held closed hands up to their chins—a pose necessary when asking favors. Yoh began, "It's just you sound really like Ren."

The blue haired one piped in, "So can we record your voice saying 'You guys are my best friends'?"

"In a really sappy way?" the brunette added eagerly.

Ed blinked at the seemingly silly request, "What's wrong with this Ren guy?" he laughed, "Can't he even call you his best friends? I mean…" he gave them a whole hearted grin, "You guys are great! I really won't mind calling you my best friends!"

"So you'll do it?" the two said in unison. Ed smiled and nodded.

* * *

It was late into the night. Ren finally couldn't go on reading anymore and now laid his tired back onto the comfort of the bed. The country air blew in from the window into the moonlit room. The armor sitting by the window made as little movement as possible, trying not to disturb the serene setting. 

"Ren-oniisan, did you learn a lot today?" Al called lightly to the other side of the room. The tangle of bed sheets stirred and then came the short reply, "Yeah."

Al was used to it by now, the fact that Ren was a person of few words. He looked up at the stars, ready to leave him alone for the rest of the night so that he can sleep, however Ren's voice sounded in the room once more. "The old man…" he said.

"Huh?" caught off guard, Al spun back to the covered body on the bed and listened curiously for just what might Ren have to say.

"…the spirit that's been following you all along."

At first, Al was confused, but then he quickly realized it was the spirit that helped Ren before that he was talking about. "Y..yeah.." Al answered slowly.

Golden colored eyes were trained on the ceiling as Ren let out what he had been stalling to tell the younger brother. "He still won't tell me his name," he began. He stopped and let out a sound in frustration as if he didn't want to say what came after. There was a slight exhale of air and Ren continued, "but he told me to tell you that he's sorry for causing you and your brother so much pain."

There was a silence in the room. The new information didn't help Al figure out who the spirit was. In fact, learning that it might be a person he knew only added to the confusion. He will have to discuss this with his brother when he returns. Nevertheless, it's a nice feeling to know that someone is watching over you. Al let out a big smile, "Thanks Ren-oniisan."

The body turned over on the bed wildly. Ren curled up facing the wall and muttered, "Yeah, whatever."

Al decided to take a chance and dared to ask the other boy for a favor. "Ren-oniisan, can you say 'Goodnight Al' to me?"

"What!" The bed sheets were thrown off this time as Ren poked a head out to glare at Al for his difficult favor, well, at least it was difficult for Ren. You see, other than to his sister, Ren has never said 'goodnight' to anyone before. Al was expecting the reaction. "But niisan always says it to me before he goes to sleep and you sound just like niisan," he defended. The armor clasped its hands and made whimpering sounds. Ren couldn't stand it. He shifted in the bed. "Ah, fine…g'night Al," the words came out as fast as lightning. Al made a whine in disapproval, "he says it in a lot more gentle way."

"I really miss my niisan," the 12 year old added to the end. There was no answer. The body made no movement on the bed. After a while came a gentle and controlled voice that sounded exactly like Al's brother.

"Goodnight, Al"

Al nodded happily. His night was finally complete. He replied, somehow to the other's surprise, "Goodnight, Ren-oniisan!" Ren jerked on the bed, but soon he settled down and the peaceful quiet of the night returned to the room.

* * *

In a run-down room in Patch Village, three teens laid tired on the straw mats, spent from a whole night of playing. They laid wheezing happily from their last bout of running around the room. "Hey Ed," Chocolove said in between breaths. "Next time you should transmutate an even bigger wooden horse." Ed had transformed the table into a small wooden horse, about the height of Ed's waist. It moved on its own, thanks to Chocolove's performing oversoul onto it. They spent the entire night chasing it around and laughing like idiots. All in all, they had fun. 

"Are you kidding me?" came Horohoro's voice from the other side, "We had enough trouble chasing that little thing!"

Ed laughed. It had been fun watching the things he created actually move on their own. He sighed contently then said, "Goodnight guys."

"Yeah, goodnight Ed," the other two both replied at the same time.

"…"

"Hey," came Chocolove's voice again, "I bet ya I can say that 10 times as fast."

"Oh yeah?" though sleepy right now, Ed is always up for a challenge. He smirked then said confidently, "I bet ya you can't say it as fast as me."

With that, the two began repeating 'goodnight Ed' over and over at incredible speed. After a while Horohoro joined in, claiming he can do even better. The neighbors cursed at the uncovered windows of the boys' room, which were characteristic of all Patch rooms. They threw things at their window but the boys ignored them, going on with their little game. When sleep finally claimed them, all was quiet. They sprawled, chests rising and falling, in the darkened room.

Over in the corner, Ed's body slowly began to disappear, but nobody noticed and neither did the boy himself. He faded away just as Ren's body slowly appeared and replaced the spot, and it was done, just as quickly as he came. At last, all was set and back to the way it should be.

* * *

(1)Okay, I know T-production was taken out by the Hanagumi in like one of the first rounds, but I'm free to make changes, no? 

So, did you enjoy that? I'm sorry Hao, for making Ed punch you…but it was fun having you flustered : ) Just so you know, the whole idea came up one day when I was listening to the Hagaren song that Ed, Al, and Winly sings together and thought 'hey, Ed sure sounds a lot like Ren. I wonder what it would be like to have Ren singing there with Al and Winly…" and I began picturing it in my mind. Then I began thinking what Ed can do in Ren's world. I thought about if Ed can defeat the Spirit of Fire or not and I remembered the fight between Ed and Greed and thought, 'hey, if Ed can transform the carbon in Greed's armor then he can do the same to the air Hao uses to oversoul...' ha ha, I overanalyze my anime don't I? Thank you for reading.


	3. epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King

Note: Hmm...a lot of people thought the last chapter was the end. Of course I wouldn't have left you hanging like that. There's still unfinished business...yes, the tape recording. Well, if you thought that was the end, it did sound like an ending, then you can think of this as an epilogue. Enjoy.

* * *

In Different Worlds

Ed's eyelids fluttered open to a high pitched voice that belonged to his little brother. "Niisan," Al called one last time and Ed finally looked up at him, recognizing his presence. The armor practically threw himself at the smaller older brother causing Ed to let out a choking sound. "I really missed you niisan!" Luckily the bed sheet was between them so there was no alchemic reaction from the philosopher's stone in Al. Realizing he wasn't supposed to touch his brother, Al finally released him and laughed sheepishly. Ed just sat up and smiled at his little brother and greeted him in the usual way, "Hi, Al. Good Morning."

Al wailed with relief beside his brother. Ed laughed at his little brother's reaction. Deep down, he guessed that he too had been worried about not being able to come back, but in the end, it all worked out, didn't it? Ed stepped out of bed and twirled around, taking in the setting of the room. It felt strange. Even though he had been gone for only one day, it felt like he hadn't seen it for a long time. Maybe having such a big adventure in a different world on the day before does that, Ed thought to himself.

Al watched his brother happily then piped, "Hey, niisan. Ren-oniisan told me all about his world. Did you have fun while you were there?" Ed turned to him. There was a spark in his eyes that read 'yeah, indeed it was a lot of fun'. The blond nodded, "Yup!" However he added, "It was a lot of fun and very relaxing, but I really missed you."

The little brother choked back sobs. His eyes were teary. There was a way in how he was standing that showed he was about to make a jump for his brother. When Ed saw this he took a step back and waved his hands at the armor in a panic. "Al! Al, I'm back already, aren't I? I promise not to leave anymore, not-that-I-left-on-my-own-in-the-first-place, so calm down!" Al took a step back and nodded. Seeing that, Ed let out a sigh.

The blond made his way towards the window. He casually peered out, not really expecting anything new to see, but just out of habit. Then something caught his eye. "Hey, Al," he asked as he scrutinized something from the window and pointed at it, "Did Winly plant some onions while I was gone? Cause I see a big white one sticking out from the ground."

"Um…" Al answered weakly when he saw what his brother was referring to, "Niisan, that's not an onion…"

* * *

"Ren!" Horohoro called happily as he and Chocolove followed Ren down the stairs of the building their room is in. The purple haired boy totally ignored him and cursed under his breath about whoever made his teammates so chummy all of a sudden. Ren had a suspicion of just who might it have been. He slapped away the blue haired boy by the stomach when he got too close. Ren grunted when he heard the voice call after him again, having recovered from the hit.

He stepped out of the building when he was stopped short by the sight of Yoh and a few others standing there waiting for him. Ren immediately found the ground very interesting. If there was one person that can make Tao Ren divert his piercing gaze it was Yoh. The taller boy sauntered over till they were inches away. This act of course caused Ren to flinch uneasily. "Hi, Ren. How's it going?" he said in a friendly tone.

"N..nothing much…" he stumbled, embarrassed for some reason that he couldn't understand. He cursed to himself at the way his cheeks were starting to flare up.

"I missed you, Ren."

Those four words—Ren couldn't understand how Yoh does it, but they caused Ren's entire face to heat up into such a deep shade of red that one would fear he may pop a vessel. The others watched from the side as this went on, clutching on to their mouths to prevent their snickering from being noticed. The moment doesn't last long, however, as a large blast of wind caught them, coming from the other end of the road.

Hao snickered evilly as the Spirit of Fire landed in the middle of the road in front of the two boys. The bandages and the bruises from Ed's damage were clear on his face, but none of the friends said anything as the expression on Hao still made him very fearful-looking. The cloaked boy paused as he scanned their minds once again to confirm something. He nodded when it was agreeable and taunted at the group, "I know that boy is not with you anymore. Without that strange ability of his, you won't be able to stop me."

He began, "How dare you for making a fool out of me yesterday. No one will make a fool out of me and get away with it. Today, I will show you. I will kill off every single one of you!" Hao was too caught up in his speech and didn't notice when Ren knelt to the ground and began drawing on the dirt with his finger. When he was finished, he placed two hands to the side of the array. A while light flashed just when Hao finished his speech. It surrounded him and the Spirit of Fire, catching them in surprise.

When the light was gone, there was a large glass box encasing Hao and the Spirit of Fire was gone. They quickly learned the reason to be the lack of air in the transparent container as Hao knocked furiously on the glass while his mouth made movements of gasping for air. The 1000 year old hammered desperately, growing red to the face, as the people watched on in awe at the second time Hao was getting licked.

The wall finally shattered to pieces as Hao collapsed onto the ground with them. He laid there, sucking in air to his deprived lungs. Ren began walking away when Yoh woke from his trance and followed after his friend. He said excitedly, "hey, Ren. With that, now you can easily defeat Hao!" The reply, however, was one that was not expected. Without turning or stopping, Ren growled, "I will not use alchemy!"

"There's too many things that doesn't make sense about it," he finished, his choice resolute though irrational. Nevertheless, Yoh smiled and caught up to his friend's side. 'It was just the way Ren was,' the cheery boy thought. He followed Ren happily towards the place where they have breakfast. Soon, one by one, the others came around and began chasing after the two, ready to give the stubborn boy a piece of their mind and to change his decision. As the group left, a few members of the Patch watched from one of the rooftops.

"So Goldva-sama, is this also a will of the Great Spirit?" the man asked uncertainly. Goldva didn't know what to say. To think someone came from another world with the ability to stop someone they had dreaded and couldn't for so many years, and Tao Ren goes and returns from another world with the same ability. And to add to that, the boy refuses to use the ability. The elder Patch didn't know what to do anymore, but just for the sake of consistency while in front of his younger tribesmen, he nodded slowly and said,

"..yes…it is all the will of the Great Spirits…"

* * *

(Later…)

"Hey, Ren. We're glad that you made it back to save us," the blue haired boy walked up to the purple-haired one. Ren crossed his arms and smirked, "Hmph, of course I'm back to save you all because you guys are…" Ren stopped when he felt his voice being drowned out by a loud and sappy-sounding voice—his own voice,

"You guys are my best friends!"

It was perfect. Everyone in the room covered their mouths. The recording had been played at the right moment and sounded as if the great Tao Ren had said it. "Yosh, perfect." Horohoro snapped the stop button on the tape recorder. Golden eyes trained onto the small device and it didn't take long for Ren to realize what was done.

"Bastard, give me that!" Ren tried to lunge forward, but felt himself being pulled back. He turned around to glare at Yoh who told him, "Calm down, Ren. It's not nice to fight." The grin on Yoh's face gave him away—the boy was in on this too. Ren narrowed his eyes then said in a low and dangerous tone,

"I'm gonna kill you all."

E

N

D

* * *

bwah ha ha, so Ren won't use alchemy and all will go on as if none of this happened…not unless Ren slips and decides to use it anyway, he he he…

It's been a pleasure writing this fic and I thank you all for reading. (bows)

See you in another!


End file.
